Dyson's Robot Vacuum Cleaner - the DC06

June 3, 2004 - The long awaited days when robots do the household chores are considerably closer with the arrival of the Dyson DC06; an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner that will clean all floor surfaces at the push of a button. Capable of 'learning' the layout of a room without and navigating safely around unforseen obstacles, the DC06 is 5% vacuum cleaner and 95% robotic intelligence.

The long awaited days when robots do the household chores are considerably closer with the arrival of the Dyson DCO6; an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner that will clean all floor surfaces at the push of a button. Capable of 'learning' the layout of a room without and navigating safely around unforseen obstacles, the DC06 is 5% vacuum cleaner and 95% robotic intelligence.

Combining over 70 sensory devices and three on-board computers with independent wheel, microprocessor-driven SR electrical motors, the DC06 can make 10 decisions every second, enabling it to manoeuvre precisely and clean efficiently without repetition, even recognising when the job is done. The SR motors produce no harmful carbon emissions and are billed as lasting twice as long as conventional motors with brushes. The completely independent DC06 also charges its own batteries via a high-speed charger, and to thoroughly convince you of its intelligence, there's even a mood indicator light - blue for happy, green when negotiating an obstacle and red if it feels threatened by its environment.

The vacuum mechanism itself utilises Dyson's Dual Cyclone technology, a system that - apart from making its inventor James Dyson one of the richest men in the UK - requires no bag and therefore removes dust from the airflow more effectively, maintaining 100% suction. Five years and 5,000 prototypes in the making, the bag-less system extracts particles of dust by utilising centrifugal forces created when the air is driven through two cone shaped cylinders at speeds equal or greater to that of sound, forcing the tiniest of particles onto the outer wall.

The DC06 should be available in Australia at the end of the year, and is expected to cost around $6000.